Senate Scuttles Gun Limits

President Obama denounces the Senate's failure to pass a measure that would have tightened gun laws, saying "This was a pretty shameful day for Washington."

By

Kristina Peterson and

Janet Hook

Updated April 18, 2013 6:22 p.m. ET

WASHINGTON—The biggest push in nearly two decades to restrict firearms in the U.S., touched off by the emotional response to December's mass shooting of schoolchildren, collapsed in the Senate on Wednesday, scuttling a major element of President Barack Obama's second-term agenda.

The centerpiece of a Democrat-led gun-control effort—a plan to expand the system of background checks aimed at detecting buyers ineligible to own guns—failed in a 54-46 vote, six votes shy of the 60 needed to advance. Shortly afterward, the Senate blocked a proposal to ban the manufacture and sale of certain semiautomatic rifles often called assault weapons and ban high-capacity ammunition magazines. It drew 40 votes, with 60 senators opposed.

Mr. Obama denounced the Senate action in the White House Rose Garden, where he was joined by victims of gun violence, including former Rep. Gabrielle Giffords (D., Ariz.), who was gravely injured in a mass shooting. "This was a pretty shameful day for Washington. But this effort is not over," the president said.

Supporters of the background-check measure had hoped the co-sponsorship of Sen. Pat Toomey, a conservative Republican from Pennsylvania, would draw in his party colleagues. But only four GOP senators joined 50 of the Senate's 55 Democrats and independents in support.

Wednesday's votes showed that little has changed in the politics of gun control in the aftermath of the Newtown, Conn., shootings, which left 20 children and six adult staff members dead at an elementary school, as well as the attacker's mother. Support for tighter laws is strong among most Democrats, but Republicans and those Democrats from GOP-leaning states proved reluctant to vote to tighten access to firearms.

The Senate isn't expected to take a final vote on its package of gun-control legislation, in essence leaving the issue tabled. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D., Nev.) took a procedural step Wednesday that would enable lawmakers to return to the bill if dynamics changed.

But that prospect seemed unlikely, and the Republican-controlled House of Representatives is unlikely to initiate any gun-control legislation in the absence of a Senate-passed bill.

Timeline: Gun Control in the U.S.

Since the American Revolution, when colonists went to war against Great Britain, the right to bear arms has been central to—and controversial in—American culture.

The amendments needed 60 votes to pass under an agreement between party leaders designed to avoid time-consuming filibusters. The procedural agreement meant that amendments by both parties required 60 votes to advance, rather than a simple majority.

Lawmakers opposing tighter gun laws said they were representing the will of their constituents. Some opponents had worried that records kept of background checks could enable the government to compile a national list of gun owners and potentially seize their firearms.

"There are many different perspectives on this issue, and passions are high on all sides," said Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R., Ky.). "The government should not punish or harass law-abiding citizens in the exercise of their Second Amendment rights."

In a statement Wednesday, the National Rifle Association said the measure would have criminalized the transfers of firearms between "honest citizens" and wouldn't have reduced violent crime. It said the group would continue to work to protect children and prosecute violent criminals.

Why is there a gun show loop hole in the background check law? Would making the checks "universal" prevent crime and death? Jason Bellini has "The Short Answer."

Many political observers believed Mr. Obama's re-election, combined with Republican soul-searching over new ways to connect with voters and the public horror over the Newtown shootings, had created a receptive atmosphere for new gun laws that likely won't be replicated soon. In addition, there was the lobbying and ad campaign by deep-pocketed gun-control advocates, including New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg.

"All of these things presented probably the best possible opportunity in a very long time to have significant legislation coming out of Congress," said Kristin Goss, a professor at Duke University's Sanford School of Public Policy.

The background-check measure, a bipartisan compromise crafted by Mr. Toomey and Sen. Joe Manchin (D., W.Va.), was once seen as having a strong chance of winning approval. It would have expanded the checks to all online sales and sales at gun shows, with the goal of flagging people with criminal or mental-health histories that disqualify them from gun ownership. Currently, the checks are needed only for sales by federally licensed dealers.

Erica Lafferty, daughter of Dawn Hochsprung, the principal of Sandy Hook Elementary School, who died in the Newtown attack, said in an interview that she felt "overwhelming disappointment" with lawmakers and planned to continue her appeals.

"My plan is to continue getting my story out there and talking to anyone who will listen," she said. "I'm going to do what I know my mom would absolutely expect me to be doing."

The vote on expanding background checks marked a moment of drama in the Senate, with Vice President Joe Biden traveling to the Capitol to preside over the session. Spectators, including relatives of the Newtown victims, packed the Senate galleries, with one person yelling, "Shame on you!" to the lawmakers when the background-check vote failed.

Afterward, Mr. Obama criticized the outcome and accused the nation's gun lobby of "spreading untruths" that the measure would lead to "some sort of Big Brother gun registry." The amendment explicitly prohibited the government from creating a national registry of gun owners, which is already forbidden.

ENLARGE

After denouncing the vote, President Obama hugs Nicole Hockley, whose son died in the Newtown, Conn., massacre.
Associated Press

Support for the measure had ebbed over the week, with late-emerging opposition from Republican Sens. Dean Heller of Nevada and Kelly Ayotte of New Hampshire all but extinguishing the hope of supporters. Mr. Obama called both GOP senators on Tuesday to try to win them over.

The amendment was rejected by four Democratic senators from GOP-leaning states: Mark Begich of Alaska, Mark Pryor of Arkansas, Max Baucus of Montana and freshman Heidi Heitkamp of North Dakota. All but Ms. Heitkamp face re-election next year in states that Mr. Obama lost in 2012 by double-digit margins. Mr. Reid also voted against the measure, citing procedural reasons.

Guns are woven into the culture of Alaska, a vast, rural state. When Mr. Begich was in Alaska during a recent, two-week congressional recess, he was confronted in the airport and at virtually every event by constituents urging him to oppose the background-check legislation, according to aides.

In Mr. Pryor's case, Republicans have been looking to highlight gun rights as part of a broader argument that he is too liberal for a state that has turned more conservative in the five years since he was first elected.

While polling shows that a majority of the public favors stricter gun laws, surveys by The Wall Street Journal and NBC News suggest that the support peaked in February, two months after the Newtown shootings, and has since tapered, with 55% in an April survey favoring stricter laws and 43% saying laws should be less strict or remain as they are.

Just one-third of Republicans support stricter gun laws, Journal polls through this year show, a finding that helps explain why GOP senators and Democrats from GOP-leaning states opposed expanded background checks and other measures. Some 80% of Democrats favor stricter laws, Journal polling shows.

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